Annual Christmas Letter 2011

Every year since 1991 my dad has written a Christmas letter recapping our year and the adventures we had. I now have a book of all the letters, and it is amazing to go back and read them and see what we did each year. So I told my self growing up, I would always do that when I had a family. So last I wrote our first Christmas letter and this is this years! Hope you enjoy!

 

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

Love,
Tthe Scarboroughs

Oh hey!

I am terrible at this blogging thing. Between work and my laptop being broken for a couple of weeks I have had no desire to sit down and blog. We have both just been super busy with work and getting everything prepped for Christmas. So here is a short version of the past 2 months:

Texas Tech vs. OSU game- Brad and I made the trip out to Lubbock with his parents for the OSU/Tech game. We enjoyed seeing Brad's brother Phillip and his girlfriend Sam! OSU fortunately killed Tech 66-6, but whose keeping score?!?

New car #2 - We never planned to buy two cars this year, but unfortunately Brad's also recently just broke down and so we had to replace it. We ended up buying it from some good family friends of ours which was quick and painless. If only all big purchases were that simple. Brad ended up getting a used 2008 Ford Fusion, and lets just say he is happy to not have it smoking while driving down the highway!


Thanksgiving 2011- This year Brad and I took a short trip to LaGrange, TX for thanksgiving with my family. We had a blast riding the four wheeler, shooting guns, and catching up with family. We came home early to have a second Thanksgiving dinner with Brad's family while his brother was in town from college. We had a nice break from work and enjoyed spending time with everyone.

Oliver- Our sweet little boy is growing so fast. He is still getting into trouble while we are at work. Our poor Christmas tree is only decorated at the top because Oliver has taken all the ornaments off the bottom and scattered them around the house. WHAT A GLITTERY MESS!!! We wouldn't trade him for anything though!

Bedlam Game- We did make the trip up to Stillwater a few weeks ago for the Bedlam game. Brad went to the game with our friend Parker, while Meagan and I stayed home and watched it on TV. It was an incredible game and an awesome win for OSU!!! Brad and Parker rushed the field after the game!!!

Early Christmas Present- Our first Christmas present was delivered on Saturday and it is one of those love/hate presents!! We bought our first major appliances a washer and dryer! LOVE having our own that work well instead of the crappy ones we were renting, but HATE laundry so I can only appreciate the gift to a certain point. Now if it came with a maid, I would be forever grateful!!

Don't they make a cute couple?!? I haven't used them yet because that would entitle me doing laundry, and well I am just going to continue putting that off until I run out of socks again!


Christmas Party- Brad and I attended our first Christmas party of the year. His work always puts on a big fancy bash in downtown Dallas. So we stayed in the Stonleigh Hotel and got all fancied up with some friends for the party! It is always fun meeting Brad's co-workers and watching the annual talent show!! It was nice to have a quick romantic night away from our busy life!

I have just one more week of school before Christmas break! I have to keep telling myself "I think I can, I think I can". It is going to be a crazy week with our holiday party, assembly, and early release. Plus we have been tracking the moon during our integrated lessons and well its a full moon out, so I am fully preparing myself for the craziness. Come next week you can find me hibernating in my bed!!! 5 DAYS!!

Hope your holiday season is keeping you merry!!

Love,
Elizabeth

Catching up!

 I have gotten to the point where I have to force myself to log on and post about my life. I know I want this for a scrapbook, but I just cant seem to get the motivation going to log on and write a post. Life is so busy right now, and when its not I am usually passed out somewhere taking a nap! lol I love my new teaching job, but let me tell you, those kids wipe me out. I usually don't leave school till after 5 everyday, and it stresses me out to see teachers walk out the door everyday at 3:30 with nothing in their hands. How do they do it? I spend 2 hours after school getting everything ready, organized, clean for the next day and  I still have to bring stuff home to finish. Someday...maybe I will figure out the secret.

Anyways, a lot has happened in the past few weeks. Like I said things have been super busy around here. We spent a weekend in Houston/College Station a couple of weeks ago for the 4th annual A&M vs. OSU family rivalry game! lol Our friends Meagan and Parker came down with us this year and it was a lot of fun! It was of course an OSU victory and although the teams will probably never play each other again I still love having a little family competition!

Here is the whole gang including friends and family!

The Cowboys!

Dad and I

 

Brad and I

 

The weekend following A&M Brad participated in the 1st Annual North Texas OSU Alumni Golf Tournament on Saturday. I volunteered to work it (at 6:00am), which really just meant registering people then driving around on the golf carts. So it was a fun get together! When the tournament was over we headed up to Plano to play some Top Golf for my father in laws birthday! We also met up with a bunch of their friends for a fun little dinner too! It was a busy day! On Sunday my dad and I volunteered (at 7:00am) and participated in the Ride for Kids. My dad participated last year and we went to watch, but this year I signed up to volunteer and do the ride also. I so enjoyed this time with my dad. It was great to ride on the back of his bike for 90 miles while raising money for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation! In that one ride they raised over 150,000 dollars! It was incredible! After the ride they fed everyone lunch and we got to hear the some of the kids talk! I spent most of the time crying behind my sunglasses of course, but it was just so eye opening and heartfelt that this many people had come out to do a simple motorcycle ride for these kids! My dad and I are signed up for the Task Force next year, so hopefully we will reach our goal of $5000 together as a family! 

Signing people in!

Getting ready to ride!

The hundreds of bikes!

This is Benjamin! I am in love with this little boy, he was precious!

YAY!!!!

While I was at the Ride for Kids, Brad played in another golf tournament for the McKinney Humane Society. I joined him for the banquet dinner that evening! It was a very busy weekend but well worth it. I definitely hit the pillow Sunday night around 8:30 though! 

This past weekend was the complete opposite! Other than running a few errands this weekend we stayed home and cleaned and got our house back in order after the busy weeks we had. It was so nice to just relax and eat home coked meals! I even took a nap on Saturday and Sunday! You cant beat that! OH and we finally got RAIN!!!! It was magical, we had the windows open, and there was such a cool breeze blowing through! A huge plus to the weekend! I love rainstorms!

I leave you with a picture of our baby! Ollie doing what he does best!

Have a great week!

Elizabeth

Bring on the kiddos...

Tomorrow will be my first full day with all my kids in my class! I had a great first week of observing and setting up my classroom, including a morning of organization and decorating on Saturday! Everything is pretty much in its place for now! I am sure after the first week I will realize what I am missing and what I need to move! My students moved into the room Friday afternoon before school got out! They were so excited! We came up with our class rules, talked about morning procedures, and played a couple of games!! I am so looking forward to seeing their beautiful faces tomorrow morning! I have read over the lesson plans about a million times already, just so that tomorrow might flow more smoothly, we will see! lol

Here are some pictures I promised of my classroom so far:

BEFORE

I moved in to a classroom that was being used as the bilingual classroom. That class moved to another room on the other side of the building, so I could be with the rest of the 2nd grade team.

 AFTER

Working at school on Saturday with Brad's help!

 

Still a work in progress, but I think inviting enough for Monday!! lol

This week we have early release on Wednesday, so the kids go home at noon and teachers get to stay and work! I am hoping to get all of next weeks lessons ready because we will be out of town this weekend! Thursday night our good friends Meagan and Parker are driving down from Stillwater and staying with us! Friday after work we are driving down to Houston for the night and then heading over to college station for the big game on Saturday! I am excited for another family rivalry game, even more excited to share it with great friends!! It is nice to have to work all week, but have something to look forward to on the weekend!!

I will post next weekend about my first week of teaching and the big game! GO POKES!! Speaking of OSU I didn't make it last night! Our football game against Tulsa was supposed to start at 9:15pm and after a 3 hour weather delay they didn't start the game until 12:15am this morning. Brad is accusing me of not being a good fan and staying up to watch it, I'm sorry but "good fan" ends at midnight. The game didn't end till around 3:45 this morning! I cant believe people payed money to sit out there in the rain all night long to watch it. You would have had to pay me to sit in the rain until the wee hours of the morning! Brad of course stayed up to watch it, then crawled into bed this morning around 4. I got a great nights rest and a whole lot of household duties done! Those have been put on the back burner for the past 2 weeks and I just couldn't take it anymore! I spent a good 5 hours this morning scrubbing each room! Ready for our guests this week! 

Enjoy your week! 

Love,

Elizabeth

Meet the Teacher!!

That's ME!!!!! For all those who don't already know I started a new teaching job on Monday! I interviewed two Friday's ago and they hired me the same day! I was so excited!! I am teaching second grade at an elementary school in Plano. The best part is, I had observed at this school in the Spring for college credit, so I already knew the school, the principal, and most of the second grade teachers! I actually knew most of the second grade teachers because Brad's mom is one of them! I love working with her and it is comforting to have her there for my first year coming in late.

I started yesterday and I am spending half this week observing and getting to know my kids and the other half setting up my classroom. Monday will be my first day with my students in my class! I can't wait! I will definitely take before and after pictures of my classroom for y'all! It may be a bit before everything is set up and organized, but I am hoping to get most of it done by next weekend!

I am so lucky to have gotten a teaching position so late in the year! I look forward to sharing my first year teaching experience with y'all!

Have a great rest of the week!
Elizabeth

It's that time of year again...

FOOTBALL SEASON!!!! Football season for me is a love/hate relationship! I love watching the OSU Cowboys and the Dallas Cowboys, but unfortunately being married to Brad (a sports fanatic) means I get to watch any football game that may be on. I'm not a fan of watching teams I have no connection to.

Football Season Favorites:

• tailgating
• traveling to games
• being in Stillwater
• wearing Orange
• singing our fightsong/almamater
• grilling out!
• game day food
• getting together with college friends

I'm sure there are many more things that I will remember I love, after we travel to Stillwater this weekend for our first game of the season! We couldn't be more excited to be back in college mode for a short weekend! We are looking forward to seeing great friends and a great game!! Happy Tailgating!!

GO POKES!!!
Elizabeth

A Teacher's Prayer!

Well school starts tomorrow and I am ready. We finished up summer camp on Friday at work and I spent a few hours at work on Saturday morning to switch gears back into school. I am also getting 3 new kids that are transitioning into my room, so I had to prep everything for them as well!! I have several teacher friends out there and I wanted to leave all teachers with a prayer.

A Teacher’s Prayer

O Lord, Grant me your strength, so I will have COURAGE in every situation;

Grant me your love, so I will NEVER GIVE UP on anybody;

Grant me your wisdom, so I will SHOW others the path to success;

Grant me your mercy; so I will FORGIVE those who have hurt me;

Grant me your peace, so I will FIND THE BEST in everybody;

Grant me your hope, so I will NEVER GIVE UP;

Grant me your joy, so I will be THANKFUL for all my blessings;

And grant me your grace, so you will ALWAYS be at my side.  Amen.

~David Bennett

 I hope your first day of school is wonderful!! I am looking forward to seeing my kids smiling faces tomorrow morning! 

Love,

Elizabeth

Meet Oliver!

Sorry it has been so long since I have blogged, but my evenings after work have been spent emailing every elementary school principal in several districts and letting them know I "exist" and I would be an asset to their school. So far no luck. This job hunting process has been getting harder and harder the closer we get to school starting on the 22nd. Brad has been really encouraging, but I am just so discouraged. I have emailed over 60 principals and have only heard back from 11 :( I am trying my hardest to stay positive until September, once schools will know how many students they will have for sure. Prayers are much appreciated for my job hunt.

In other news Brad and I added a new member to our family!

Meet Oliver "Ollie"!!!! He is a 2 month old Buff Tabby. We adopted him from the New Beginnings Cat Rescue that had brought several kittens to a Petsmart. Brad and I had been talking about getting a kitten all summer, but with all of our traveling we put it off until 2 weeks ago. We searched for 3 weeks before we found the perfect little guy to add to our family. Growing up I never had a pet so it took some convincing and the setting of some rules/guidelines for me to get a pet. LOL We brought him home and set him up in our guest bathroom so he could stay in there during the day/night while we were away or asleep. He is very active and a big talker! Today was his first day to not have to stay in the bathroom while we were away, and we didn't come home to any major damage! He is turning out to be a very sweet and cuddly kitten, in fact he is curled up next to me right now sleeping! Just presh!!!

Here are some pics from his first week in his new home!! 

Helping us put away leftovers!

Helping us do dishes!!

Sleeping belly up next to Brad on the couch!

Riding shotgun in my purse!

 We are looking forward to watching him grow and keep us company for many years to come!! We hope you are having a great work week and keeping cool wherever you may be!

Love,
Elizabeth

My best friends wedding!!

Brianna and I have known each other since second grade and have been friends ever since. Our relationship really grew when we were roommates in college after living in different states for 3 years. We met back up at OSU and roomed together freshman and senior year. She was my maid of honor in my wedding and I was so blessed to be a bridesmaid in hers! She looked absolutely beautiful and I am so happy for her and her new husband Brent!

The picture below is our third grade homeroom class. See if you can find Brianna, Brad, and I. We were all in the same third grade class! Crazy how far we have all come and how we are all still the best of friends!! I am pretty sure Brianna had a crush on Brad in third grade, she must have seen past the buck teeth and chili bowl haircut! I can't say I had my eyes on him, until high school! 

Look at those outfits! So glad our clothes have also come a long way too! lol

We took other pictures but they are on Meagan's camera so I will have to get them from her to post here!

On another note I was actually happy to go back to work today! I missed my kids and apparently they missed me too. They all came in and ran straight to me and gave me a big hug! Made me feel so special! I am looking forward to a weekend off this weekend to relax and get organized again before we leave for the beach next Thursday!! Then its home for the rest of the summer, waiting for a job to pop up for the fall! 

I hope you are surviving the heat wherever you are! Pretty sure the entire south is suffering 100 degrees or more everyday for the next 2 weeks. 

Love,

Elizabeth

Biking

Last weekend Brad and I finally went out and purchased the mountain bikes that we had been looking at, as our one year anniversary gifts to each other. We went ahead and also bought the car carrier as well so we would be able to take them with us on trips. Our first little bike ride was just through the neighborhood across the street. It was a quick little ride as a storm was coming in. Unfortunately all it took was those 20 minutes on that bike the first time to make my butt hurt for days. Why do bikes have to be so uncomfortable the first few rides?? We took the next night off from riding because the MAVS were playing and of course we weren't going to miss that. So our next ride was Wednesday and we rode around the Addison Airport as well as over to Circle Park. It is so nice to live in a big city, and still have great trails and residential parks to ride through. Circle Park is a little luxury apartment area that has little shops and restaurants as well. We rode through there then headed back home. We didn't go out Thursday because of the MAVS game again! lol Then Friday we rode our bikes back to circle park and ate dinner at a little pizza place where we could sit outside! It was so nice out and the food was delicious! Good thing the trip there was pretty much all uphill because, I am not so sure I would have made it back home after eating all that! We have loved being able to just come home and go for a quick ride after dinner, it is fun to explore different trails and neighborhoods. So far we have put about 12 miles on our bikes! haha That's not much, but as soon as these MAVS win tonight we wont have anymore excuses not to go riding every night!!!

Let's go MAVS bring home that W!!!!

Hope you have a great week! We are leaving Wednesday to head up to Stillwater for a wedding we are both in on Saturday!

Elizabeth

Memorial Weekend!

This past weekend Brad and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary! I still can't believe a year has passed since we said I DO!!

Our anniversary was on Sunday and we had a wedding to attend that evening in OKC. We decided instead of taking a big trip this year we would just save our money and go on a mini getaway to OKC! We left Saturday morning to head to the city for a romantic dinner and hotel stay in the Historic Colcord hotel in downtown OKC! On our way northbound on I35 we decided to stop off at the G.W. Exotic Animal park. This little hole in the wall animal refugee park hosts over 200 big cats as well as bears, monkeys, reptiles, and other weird animals. We got there right before they were starting a special tour that would allow us to have a 2 hour guided tour through the park, as well as get to interact with tigers, monkeys, and wolves. A photographer would also follow our group around and take pictures, burn them to a disk, and allow us to take it home for free!!! The tour was incredible, other than the cages, there was no barrier between you and extremely large and dangerous cats! I could have easily had my arm gnawed off if I had stuck it through the fence! After the tour of the park we got to sit down and play with 3 baby tigers and 2 baby wolves. OMG I want a baby tiger so bad now!!! They were so cute! We also got to play with monkeys, one of which was wearing a diaper! (I bet that is a pain to change) The people that work at the park don't get paid and they live on the premises with some of the baby animals. They take care of all the animals 24/7! The park is non profit and all the money goes to tending to the animals needs. It really is incredible what these people are doing. Here are some pics from our little adventure!

Liger- Cross between a male lion and a female tiger. 

These tigers were a day old!!

9 day old white tiger

monkey with a diaper

our tour guides!

Geronimo the wolf

baby alligator

After we finished at the park we headed the rest of the way to OKC and checked into our beautiful hotel! We showered and got ready for a romantic dinner at the Mantel! We walked around Bricktown for a while and then ate! We bought tickets at the movies for a 9:00 showing of the Hangover 2 (so romantic I know, but we loved it) and headed back to our hotel to change into more comfortable clothing. A horse drawn carriage came and picked us up from our hotel and took us to our movie! After the movie we grabbed a midnight snack from Sonic!! (yum!) Then took our time walking back to our hotel along the river walk. We got up kinda early the next morning to meet some friends in Edmond at Panera for breakfast! It was nice to catch up with everyone even if it was just a short visit! After breakfast Brad and I headed back to the hotel to pack up and relax for a while. We checked out at noon and headed to Edmond to do some shopping and eat lunch! We met up with Brad's mom and brother at our hotel for Sunday night in Edmond around 3! We relaxed, showered, and changed for the wedding!

The wedding was of a longtime family friend of the Scarborough's. Brad and I went to high-school with the groom, but Brad has played baseball with him since he was little! It was a very small, but beautiful wedding at this adorable little chapel! They got married on our anniversary so it was a great reminder of the commitment we made to each other a year ago!

before the wedding!

Our wedding cake topper. The bakery we ordered our wedding cake from makes you a fresh cake for your one year anniversary so you don't have to eat a frozen one!

Monday we got up and headed back home. We got back to the apartment around noon and I cleaned up while Brad relaxed since it was his birthday!! We celebrated that evening with his family with a steak dinner at Saltgrass and cake and presents at home!!! This Friday we will be continuing the celebration with dinner at In-and-Out Burger (We got one and it finally opened) and a competition at Top Golf!! (Where I will win of course)

At Saltgrass for Brad's 24th birthday!!

You could say it was a busy weekend, but a memorable one for sure!!
Best picture of the weekend...

This would be my husband playing basketball at a Shoe Carnival (shoe store) like a 12 year old boy. He was like "you go shop and when you need me I will be here!" He wouldn't even stop for 2 little boys that wanted to play. Nerd or true athlete?!? Take your pick!

Hope your weekend was just as wonderful!
Elizabeth